Moving-figure toy



Feb. 10, 1931. D. H. MQ BRIDE MOVING- FIGURE Toy Filed June 25, 1927jumiddimjtiifl w rf Patented Feb. 10, 1931 UNITED STATES P-ATET OFICEsame constituting a carriage.

DONALD H. MACIBRIDE, or LAPEER, vIrcrrIeAN,

ASSIGNOR, BY MESN E ASSIGNMENTS,

'20 INTERNATIONAL TOY oonroaerioN, on NEW BEDFORD, ivressecnusnrrsnCORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS MOVING-FIGURE TOY Application filed June25,

The present invention relates to figure toys provided with mechanism forgiving movements to their members. Its main object is to provide such atoy having a resemblance to a duck together with mechanism for givingmovements, to the body and feet of the toy similar to the waddlingmotions of a live duck in walking. Afurther object is to construct the.mechanism and the body of the toy in such fashion that the entiremechanism may be separately assembled and the body then applied andconnected to that part. of the mechanism which is actuated by the legmembers of the toy.

The preferred construction embodying the principles of the invention isdescribed in the following specification with reference to the drawings.7

In the drawings,'

' Fig. 1 is a side elevation, with parts broken away and shown insection, of a figure toy exemplifying the preferred construction of theinvention;

Fig. 2 is a plan view;

Fig. 3 is an under plan view;

Fig. 4 is a cross section taken on line 44 of Fig. l and viewed in thedirection of the arrows applied to such line;

F 5 is a perspective view of a saddle which forms part of the mechanismof the toy and to which the body is connected;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of one of'the leg members of the toy.

Like reference characters designate the parts wherever they occur in allthe figures. 1

The base of the toy consists of a platform 1, forward wheels 2, 2, rearwheels 3, 3, and axles 4 and 5, on which the forward and rear wheels,respectively, are mounted, the whole Preferably, the

i v platform is made'of sheet metal with clownturned flanges 6throughout its periphery. T It may be so formed from a flat blank ydrawing operations of the sort well under stood by those skilled in theart of working sheet metal. The flanges at opposite sides of-theplatform are pierced with alined holes to provide bearings for theaxles, which'bearings are sufliciently far below the platform mounted anupright'post 9 1927. Serial No. 201,296.

proper to give room beneath the latter for the parts of the'mechanismwhichare there and 8, offset in opposite directions to one an-.

other and conveniently formed by. making the axle of wire and bending itin the appropriate way. The friction tight connection between this axleand the rear wheels enables the wheels to turn thelaxle and operate themechanism driven thereby whenthe carriage is rolled over a floor.

At a convenient point on the platform, preferably at or near its middle,there is providing a pivot on which the body 10 of the'toy is mountedand has its Jmovements. This post may be securely attached totheplatform by being passed through a hole therein and having securedupon it, friction tight, washers 11 and 12 embracing the platform. Thelowerend of the post is formed with a head 13 which insures its properplacement in assembling and its retention afterwards.

The body 10 is preferably made of wood,

formed by turning into generally oval shape, 7

but tapering to a point l i'at the rear end. The head 15, provided witha beak 16, is likewise preferably made of wood and formed in a turninglathe. by a dowel 17 forming a short-neck. A fanlike pieceof sheet metal18, inserted into a saw cut in the back of thebody near the rear endforms a tail. body from itsunder sidenear its center of gravity toreceive the post 9. Being supported atwhat is practically a singlepoint, the body is capable of tilting in any direction about its pointof support and also of swinging laterally about the axis of the post.

Leg pieces or members 20 and 21 carrying the webs 22 simulating the webfeet of the duck, are connected to the body, at opposite 7 It isattachedto the body A hole 19 is cut into the their lower ends to bars23 and 24, respectively, which in turn are connected at their rear endsto the cranks 7 and 8. Their forward ends are adapted to slide back andforth in guides 25 near the forward end of the platform.

The guides are conveniently formed by cutting short'parallel slits inthe platform crossing the locations occupied by these bars and strikingdown the material between these slits far enough to leave a spacethrough which the bars may pass. In other words, the guides arepreferably straps integrally connected at their ends with the platformbut struck down from the plane of the platform far enough to admit thebars.

Saidbars may be made of sheet metal sufiiciently thick to be stiffenough for the purpose, but additionally stiffened by a flange 26 bentdown atone edge, as shown in Figs. 3 and 4, or by similar flanges atboth edges, if desired. These bars are connected to the axles by beingbent around them. They are preferably offset near their forward ends, asshown in Fig. 1, so that those parts which connect with the leg membersare approximately horizontal when the cranks are horizontal.

Each leg member is preferably made in one piece with its attached footmember 22, by being stamped from sheet metal and the foot memberafterwards being twisted at right angles to its originalrelation. Theleg member proper has an eye 27 at its upper end and a tongue 28,flanked by a shoulder or shoulders 29 at its lowerend. The leg 20 isconnected with thebar or connecting rod 23 and the leg 21 with the baror connecting rod 2a, in each case approximately midway be tween the endof the bar connected to the crank axle and that end which slides in theforward guideway, by passing its tongue 28 through ahole in the bar ofsufficient dimensions to admit the tongue freely, and then bending upthe projecting end of the tongue. The shoulders 29 and tongue 28 thenform abutments on the leg member between which thebar or connecting rodis confined, but it is thus confined loosely and flexibly.

The'foot part of the leg member is located between the body of the toyand the platform at such a height" above the latter as to permitunimpeded movements of the members in the manner later described, but atthe same time near enough to the platform to give an appearance ofwalking thereon.

The preferred mode of connecting the leg members to the body is toprovide a saddle 30 having a bearing 31 to receive the end of the post9, and having downwardly projecting tabs 32, 33 at opposite sides orends, each tab terminating in a hook at capable of passing through theeye 27 of one of the leg members and being interconnected therewith.Such saddle piece with itstabs and hooks may be cut in a single piecefrom sheet metal and then bent substantially as herein, shown.

The bearing 31 is formed by offsetting the central portion of thesaddle. The end of the post is preferably made with a sphericalcurvature and the bearing in the saddle formed complemental thereto, soas to center mg removal of the body after assemblage. It is to beunderstood that the saddle is made from sheet metal sufiiciently-thickand stiffv to servethe purposes thu's'indicated. Sheet steel is asuitable material for making all of the sheet 'metal members hereindescribed, and the sheets from which the various members are cut may beof any gauge suitedto-the duty to be performed and to the dimensions andweights ofthe parts of the' toy.

When the toy is pushedor pulled over 'a' floor, the bars 23 and 24L aremoved back and forthfand at the'same time moved up and down as to allpoints except those engaged with the guides 25. The leg members 20and21, at their points of connection with these bars, are thereby alsomoved back and'forth, and upan'd down also, and they transmit thesemovements in' some degree, but not in equal measure, to the saddle 30and body 10. But the body, being held by the post 9, is moved onlyangularly about the upper end of the post, and it isso'movedwith acombination of sidewise tilting and swinging in the horizontal plane.The legs at the same time have anangular swinging movement on the hooks34 with respect to'the' body. Due to this swinging movement, inconnection with the rise and descent of the leg members, the feet 22 arein turn lifted, moved forward, lowered and then moved backward in repeating cycles, while the body swings from side to side and tilts or swaysat the same time. The whole effect is a recognizable and eludicroussimulation of the'waddle of-a duck. In obtaining this effect, the legmembers act as links pushing and pulling the body at opposite sides ofthe post alternately up and down while moving the feet up and down andback and forth. The joints at each end of the legs are loose andflexible enough topermit these movements to take-place freely. Suchupward movement is applied by either connect-.

ing bar to its attached leg or link member upon-the shoulder 29 to raiseit, while the 5 other bar pulls down on the tongue 28 of the other leg.

. It will be appreciated that by virtue of the saddle 30 the mechanicalparts of the toy may be-builtup and assembled independently of thebody,and that the parts of this'mechanism may be standardized so that allduplicate parts can be made with a high degree of precision andapproximately exactly alike. That is, the parts so made are susceptibleof manufacture within smaller limits of tolerance than is possible withturned and bored wooden pieces, such as the body. The body is mounted onthe saddle after the parts of the mechanism have been assembled.Considerable variations in the dimensions of the body and in thedepth'of the hole 19 which is bored therein may therefore occur withoutderangement of the mechanism or impairment of the effect producedthereby. The saddle is also a wear plate preventing the wearing andchange of relationship of the parts which would occur if the wooden bodywere caused to rest directly on the end of the post. However, it iswithin the contemplation of my invention to omit the saddle and mountthe body directly on the post, then connecting the legs directly to thebody. In either case, however, whether the body is directly orindirectly supported on the post and directly or indirectly connected tothe leg members, the same essential combination and result is present ofa body mounted on a pivot and connected with legs in such manner as tobe tilted and swayed thereby.

ll hat I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A figure toy comprising a wheeled platform, oppositely disposedcranks driven by the wheels of said platform, reciprocatively mountedbars connected with the respective cranks, supporting guides for saidbars at points remote from the cranks, a body supported on said platformin a manner permitting swinging and tilting movements, and leg membersflexibly connected to said body and said bars at points on the latterintermediate the cranks and guides.

2. A figure toy comprising a platform, supporting wheels for saidplatform, a post rising from the platform, a saddle supported on the topof the post and having tabs extending downward at opposite sidesthereof, leg members flexibly connected to said tabs and dependingtherefrom, means driven by the wheels and connected to the leg membersfor giving opposite movements both up and down and forward and back tosaid leg members, and a toy figure body having a hole receiving saidsaddle and engaged therewith.

3. A figure toy comprising a platform, supportingwheels for saidplatform, a post risin from tl platform, a saddle supported on the topof the post and having tabs extending downward at opposite sidesthereof, leg members flexibly connected to said tabs and dependingtherefrom, means driven by the wheels and connected to the leg membersfor giving opposite movements both up and down and forward and back tosaid leg members, and a toy figure body having a hole receiving saidsaddle and engaged therewith, the tab the platform into individualengagement with the respective bars.

5. A figure toy mechanism comprising a platform, axles having bearingsin said platform, one of said axles having oppositely directed cranks,wheels on said axlesadapted to support the platform on a floor, barseach connected at one end to one of said cranks and having slidingengagement with the platform at points remote from the cranks, a postrising from the platform, a saddle having ball and socket engagementwith the upper end of the post, leg members connected to said saddle atopposite sides of thepost passing through the platform into connection,each with one of the before mentioned bars, and a toy figure body havinga hole receiving and surrounding said saddle and post.

6. A figure toy mechanism comprising a platform, axles having bearingsin said platform, one of said axles having oppositely directed cranks,wheels on said axles adapted to support the platform on a floor, barseach connected at one end to one of said cranks and having slidingengagement with the platform at points remote from the cranks, a bodymounted with provision for universal swinging movement upon and abovesaid platform, leg members flexibly connected with said body at oppositesides of the middle part thereof depending therefrom and projectingthrough the platform into connection each with one of said bars, thesaid connections; comprising terminal tongues on the leg members passingthrough the respective bars and bent up under them. 7. In a toy of thecharacter set forth, a leg member consisting of a sheet metal bar havinga tongue portion at one end and a shoulder adjacent to such end, and amotion transmitt-ing bar having a hole through which said tongue portionextends, the end of the tongue portion being bent, and said last namedbar being confined between the bent tongue end and the before mentionedshoulder.

8. In a toy of the character described, a combined leg and foot membercomprising a bar stamped from sheet metal having a web integrally joinedat one side, said web being twisted at right anglesto the plane of thebar and representing a toot.

9. In a toy ot the character described, a

saddle member having downturned tabs at opposite sides, a bearing in thepart between said tabs, and hooks on the extremities of the tabs.

10. In a toy of the character described, a saddle member havingdownturned tabs at opposite sides, a bearing in the part between saidtabs, book on the extremities of the tabs, and spurs struck out from thetabs.

11. A. figure toy comprising a base having wheels, a support on saidbase, a body fulcrumed on said support at. a distance above the base andbeing tiltable and horizontally oscillatable with-respect thereto, legmembers connected flexibly to said body at opposite sides-thereof in thesame transverse plane with the fulcrum point of the body, dependingtherefrom and having foot portions, and means driven by the wheels ofthe base for moving the leg members alternately to one another and eachin rotation forwardly, downwardly, rearwardly and upwardly; the legconnections with the body giving to the latter horizontal oscillatingmovements and vertical transverse tilting movements.

In testimony-whereof l haXe affixed my signature.

DONALD H. MAOBRIDE.

